Toy rifle cartridge ejector



May 26, 1959 T. w. NICHOLS 2,887,809

' TOY RIFLE CARTRIDGE EJECTOR Filed March 28. 1958 j v 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Z2 Z9 4 w 7 Z 1 l,

36 /3 33 I 3 4i 3 I .35 w 32 0/ o 2/ i 4 45 42 /6 44 7. 14/. /V/ ch 0 /J INVENTOR.

" ie/15am ATTORNEY May 26,1959 T. w. NICHOLS I 2,887,809

TOY RIFLE CARTRIDGE EJECTOR Filed March 28, 1958 Sheets-Sheet 2 a BY 9 .11

ATTORNEY United States Patent invention relates to a toylever action cap gun designed to resemble a high grade rifle in appearance and operation except for the absence of a projectile to be shot through the barrel, and more particularly to a safe toy rifle having a cocking and ejecting action whereby, in the manner akin to standard gun procedures, a spent cap containing cartridge can be removed from a reciprocatory chamber and replaced after reassembly with a new'cap in readiness for another firing.

An object of the invention is to provide a manually actuated mechanism whose operating handle is manipulated to project and retract a reciprocatory bolt having a cartridge chamber with which co-operates a cartridge ejector effective near the end of bolt retraction for movement into the cartridge chamber in dislodging a cartridge therefrom and which bolt, during retraction, also pushes a'firing hammer back to self-latching or cocked engagement with a releasing trigger and during projection, after reloading, travels away from the cocked hammer to a forward position for-subsequent receipt of a hammer blow to fire a cap.

A further object of the invention is to provide an outwardly biasedejector positioned for passage into the cartridge chamber upon bolt retraction and arranged for selective settings either to push without much impact on the cartridge with a constant and relatively light dislodging force to assist finger removal of the cartridge or to strike the cartridge with a sharp impulse to knock the cartridge clear of its chamber.

' Another object of the invention is to provide an ejector control latch selectively shiftable to either of two settings, one of which renders the latch ineffective and the other of which positions the latch for releasable keeper co-operation with a depressed spring loaded ejector, together with an overcenter spring biasing arrangement active in both latch settings to urge the latch away from the center of its range of shift travel with the selector knob and which latch when in its effective setting snaps into engagement with the ejector upon depression of the latter by a bolt carried cam during bolt projection and thereupon retains the ejector depressed until subsequent bolt retraction returns the cartridge chamber to alignment with the path of outward ejector travel, at which time the latch is carried back to release the depressed ejector for its sudden thrust against a chamber contained cartridge. g Other objects and advantages will become apparent during the course of the following specification having reference to the accompanying drawings illustrating a preferred but not necessarily the only embodiment of the invention and wherein Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the improved cap firing rifle; Figs. 2, 3, and 4 are like fragmentary views on a larger scale showing in vertical longitudinal section the housing for the operating mechanism and respectively illustrating the parts in their relative positions after a cap has been fired, after a cartridge has been ejected and before reloading, and after reloading with the cartridge carrying bolt at an intermediate ice 2 position in its forward projection; Fig. 5 is a side elevat on of the housing for the movable parts and with the e ector latch indicated by broken lines in its ineffective position; and Fig. 6 is a transverse section as on line 66 of Fig. 3. Referring to the drawings, the housing 1 for enclosing the operating mechanism is mounted between the usual rearward stock 2 and a forwardly projecting barrel 3 and these parts will be shaped and proportioned to have the appearance of a real rifle but on a scale suited to the average size of children for whose play use the rifle is intended. The mechanism enclosed within the housing 1 includes a transverse mounting pin 4 on which is pivotally hinged for fore and aft swinging movement a firing hammer 5 which projects outwardly through an elongated slot 6 in the upper wall of the housing. The hammer lever 5 has projecting from its pivot axis opposite to the hammer head a short detent arm 7, the upper face of which provides a curved bearing and the underside of which provides a flat abutment stop, both for co-operation with the pawl end 8 of a trigger lever 9 pivoted on a mounting pin 10 in the housing and in spaced relation with the hammer pivot 4 for the mutual co-operation of these'parts. Surrounding the pivot pin 4 is a springcoil 11 having its opposite ends projected tangentially, one for engagement with a stop abutment pin 12 fixed on the housing 1 and the other for abutment with a pin 13 carried by the hammer whereby the spring urges the hammer toward firing position. A similar coil spring 15 surrounds the trigger mounting pin 10 and has its opposite ends outwardly projected and engaged with stops 16 and 17 on the housing and the pawl 8 respectively and urges the pawl toward the hammer detent lug 7. Thus when the hammer is moved back from the position shown in Fig. 2 and to itsrearward limit, as seen in Fig. 3, the detent lug 7 rides above the spring biased pawl 8 to allow the pawl to snap under the lug and maintain the hammer cocked until released by a backward finger pull on the trigger lever 9.

In the normal position of the parts, the lower part of the trigger lever 9 projects downwardly through a slot in the bottom wall of the housing and is protectively caged within a finger receiving opening in a handle or,

operating lever 18 which bottoms rearwardly against the underside of the stock 2 and can be oscillated forwardly about a fulcrum mounting of its forward end on a pivot pin 19 enclosed within the housing 1 near the bottom thereof. Integral with the handle lever arm 18 and projected oppositely from the pivot pin 19 is a lever arm 20 whose free end is pinned to a motion transmitting link 21. The link 21 in turn is pinned to a reciprocatory bolt or chambered plunger 22 contained within the housing for forward projection and rearward retraction with oscillation of the handle 18.

The bolt 22 may be a narrow elongated tubular or I square sectioned casing having a number of longitudinally spaced apart transverse walls and divided by an intermediate wall into a forward cartridge receiving chamber and a rearward firing pin chamber. In the forwardly projected limit of the bolt, its rearward firing pin cham- 7 her is located within the forward end of the elongated slot 6 in the top wall of the housing 1 and the forward .The dummy or play cartridge includes a hollow cup or" cartridge shell 24 removably slidably fitted over a' re- At rearward bolt limit or cartridge duced diameter shank extension projected rearwardly from a solid metal cylinder 25 which has the appearance of a projectable bullet with a forwardly tapered tip or nose 26 to extend into a locating opening one of the transverse partitions of the hollow bolt .22 and :at the forward end of the cartridge chamber. The bulletlike cylinder 25 is heldiagainst forward thrust by its abutment on the front locating partition and the rearward shank extension provides an anvil face for a firing cap positioned against the base .of the shell orcase 24. A head 27 at the forward end of a firing .pin 28 slidably contained in the rearward bolt chamber, engages the rear side of the shell 24 and is resiliently urged forward by a coil spring 29 surrounding the pin and bearing at one end on the head 27 and at its opposite end on a transverse partition of the hollow bolt 22. This spring force insures friction contact between the abutting faces of the shell or cartridge case 24 and the firing pin head '27. At its rear end the firing pin '28 has an enlarged head 30 projecting beyond the rearward wall of the bolt for receiving and transmitting the impact of the firing hammer for pounding the explosive cap between the adjoining faces of the anvil and cartridge case.

In the bottom wall of the bolt 22 and opening into the cartridge chamber diametrically opposite to the loading opening is a short slot or opening 31 for the reception of a cartridge ejector when the bolt is retracted to bring the cartridge chamber out from under the covering wall 23 and into alignment with the wall opening 6. Additionally, the bottom wall of the bolt 22 and in rearwardl-y spaced relation to theejector opening 31, has a dependent rounded cam formation 32 which is for co operation with a mating formation or inclined cam surface at the rearward corner of an upwardly projecting lug or ejector head 33 constituting as will hereinafter appear, -a cartridge engaging ejector abutment at the free end of a .pivo'ted ejector lever 34. This ejector lever 34 extends in substantial parallelism with the reciprocator-y bolt '22 and has its forward end fulcrumed on a transverse pivot pin 35 within the housing at a location to present its free ended ejector lug 33 for travel normal to bolt reciprocation and in an arcuate path aligned with the opening 31 at the rearward limit of bolt retraction. A coil spring 36 surrounds the pin 35 and has opposite ends projected outwardly, one for stop abutment with a pin 37 fixed in the housing 1 and the other for abutment with an ejector lever carried pin 38 whereby to store energy for urging the ejector 34 upwardly and laterally to the direction of bolt reciprocation. As seen in Fig. 2, the ejector lever carries a pin 39 latched under a keeper hook at the free end of a lever 40 for restraining spring action by releasably holding the ejector in depressed position. Ejector release occurs upon backward travel of the latch lever 40 through engagement of its lateral pin 41 by a complementary abutment pin 42 carried by the link 21 when the bolt 22 is forced rearwardly under movement transmitted thereto during the forward swinging travel of the hand lever 18. A wire spring 43 bears on the tip of a short -arm 44 integral with and angularly related to the lever 40 so as to swing the lever 40 in a clockwise direction, as seen in Fig. 2.

The angular relationship of the two arms of the latch lever 40 is such that in relation to the {point of hearing by the spring 43 an overcenter relationship is established whereby if the lever 40 is swung counterclockwise from the position shown in Fig. 2 to an angular position beyond center, the force of the spring will then urge the lever This relationship is a depressed triangular shaped pocket 47, as seen in Fig. 5, for accommodating knob movement to opposite limits.

When the selector knob 46 is shifted to its lower position as seen in Fig. 5, the latch lever, by reason of the overcenter spring arrangement, will be biased to an ineffective position out of co-operative relation with the ejector lever 34. Accordingly, the upper tip of the unlatched ejector lug 33 will have slide bearing engagement with the underside 0f the bolt for i'nward restraint of the ejector and a light loading of its biasing spring 36 and upon retraction of the bolt 22 the lug 33 will pass through the slot 31 and into striking abutment with the cartridge with only a short stroke equal to bolt wall thickness and then transmit spring forceoutwardly :against the cartridge case 24. This outward cartridge ejecting force and the absence of an appreciable bump shock will be relatively light and insufiicient to overcome completely the holding frictional engagement with the case by the firing pin 27.

Dislodgment of the cartridge will usually require an added manual pull on the cartridge by the fingers of the user. After replacement within the cartridge 'chamber of a cartridge containing a fresh cap, the ejector head .33

have been depressed below the cartridge chamber and thereafter will be engaged by .the back edge of. the slot 31.

for a further depression as the bolt underside slidesover the lug 33 during bolt travel return to its forwardly projected firing position. The firing hammer '5 having been fully moved back by bolt rear end bearing during bolt retraction to the rearward limit of reciprocation, will remain in trigger controlled cocked position until released by manual actuation of the trigger 9.

Rocking of the selector knob '46 in clockwise direction to its upper overcenter limit, as seen in Fig. 1; will condition the latch lever 40 so that rearward swinging of the hand lever 18 for projecting the bolt forwardly will first depress the ejector lever 34 out of the ejector open-' ing 31 and thereafter the lever will be further depressed upon engagement with it of the forwardly moving dependent cam 32 and when the lug 3'3 approaches the lower tip of the cam 32 the latch pin 39 will 'be valigned with the underside of the holding hook at the free end of the latch lever 40 and the biasing spring 43 will snap it the latching hook into ejector holding relationship. Cu

subsequent forward oscillation of the hand lever 18 for again retracting the bolt 22, the hammer will be returned and cocked and the pins 41 and 42 will come in to co-operative abutment and push the latch lever 40' free of the pin 39 in the final increment of bolt retraction.

This action releases the depressed ejector lever whose cartridge ejector abutment 33 under the stored energy within the spring 31 .forcibly strikes the cartridge 24 a sharp blow which will overcome the friction holding force of the firing head 27 and spring 29 and expel and throw the cartridge completely clear of the chamber. Upon cartridge retrievement and explosive cap replacement, the cartridge can again 'be placed within thebolt chamber for projection into gun loaded relationship.

While the foregoing description is limited to the embodiment as disclosed in the drawings, it is to be understood .that such modifications can be made as come within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Cartridge ejector mechanism of the class described, including a bolt reciprocable between opposite limits and provided with a cartridge receiving chamber having a lateral opening for the passage therethroug'h of a cartridge, a housing mounting said bolt therein and having. 1 closure wall overlying said lateral opening of the cartridge chamber when the bolt -is at one limit of reciprocation and having an opening for alignment with said lateral. opening when the bolt is at its other limit of reciprocal-- tion, said bolt at the cartridge chamber also having a lateral opening diametrically opposite. to the'first mentioned lateral opening and a cartridge engageable ejector movably mounted in said housing and positioned for entrance through the second mentioned lateral opening and into the cartridge chamber for displacement of a cartridge therein and outwardly through the aligned open ings of the chamber and said housing when the bolt is at said other limit of reciprocation.

2. Cartridge receiving and ejecting mechanism, including a cartridge mounting bolt reciprocable between a cartridge loaded position and a cartridge loading and ejecting position, a cartridge engageable ejector member mounted for movement in a path lateral to the direction of bolt reciprocation for ejecting engagement with a bolt mounted cartridge when the bolt is at said loading and ejecting position, a spring active to bias said ejector member toward the bolt, means engageable with the ejector member to depress the same in response to bolt movement toward loaded position, a latch detachably engageable with the depressed ejector member to hold the same against the bias of said spring and other means movable with the bolt and engageable with said latch to trip the same out of engagement with the ejector member in response to bolt movement into loading and ejecting position.

3. Cartridge receiving and ejecting mechanism comprising a housing, a reciprocable bolt mounted by the housing for projection and retraction to and from loaded relation and provided with a cartridge chamber at one end thereof and with an inner wall having an opening therethrough in alignment with the cartridge chamber, a lever arm pivotally mounted in the housing on an axis transverse to and for swinging movement in a plane intersecting the direction of bolt reciprocation, a cartridge engageable ejector abutment carried by said lever arm in spaced relation to its pivot axis and located in a path of travel out of alignment with the cartridge chamber in the projected relation of the bolt and in alignment with said inner wall opening for passage therethrough in retracted bolt relation.

4. The mechanism of claim 3 together with a spring acting on said lever to bias the same toward the reciprocable bolt with the ejector abutment arranged to slidably bear on said inner wall during bolt reciprocation to and from loaded relation and to be passaged through the opening in said wall into cartridge engaging and outwardly biasing relation when the bolt is fully retracted.

5. The mechanism of claim 4 together with a cam carried by the bolt and active on the lever arm to depress the the same upon bolt projection, a releasable latch selectively shiftable between an efiective position and an inefiective position and operable in its effective position to engage the cam depressed lever arm and retain the same out of bearing engagement with said inner wall and manual means connected to said bolt to retract the bolt and coincidentally shift said latch to release the depressed lever arm as the bolt reaches full retraction.

6. The mechanism of claim 3 together with co-operating cam formations on the bolt and the lever arm which engage and depress said lever arm on projection of the bolt, a spring pressed latch engageable with the lever arm upon its depression to thereafter retain the same depressed and manual means operable in one direction for retracting the bolt and coincidentally releasing said latch upon bolt travel within the final part of its retraction and thereafter operable in the other direction for again projecting the bolt and restoring said lever arm to latch retaining depressed position.

7. A lever action cartridge ejector mechanism, including a housing, a reciprocatory bolt mounted in the housing for projection and retraction and provided with an outwardly opening chamber in its forward portion to removably receive a cartridge, an outwardly spring biased ejector mounted in the housing for passage into the cartridge chamber when the latter is carried into alignment with the ejector upon bolt retraction, a cam on the bolt engageable with the ejector to retract the same upon bolt projection, a releasable latch mounted within the housing for movement between an inoperative position and an operative position in the latter of which the latch is arranged to lock with the cam retracted ejector, a finger actuator accessible outside the housing and connected with the latch for selectively moving the same to either operative or-inoperative position, a hand lever pivotally mounted by the housing for back and forth oscillation, a motion transmitting connection between the hand lever and said reciprocatory bolt whereby hand lever oscillation in one direction projects the bolt and oscillation in the other direction retracts the bolt and a hand lever actuated abutment engageable with said releasable latch when the latch is in operative position and when the bolt approaches retracted position and thereby to move and release the latch.

8. Cartridge ejecting mechanism, including a reciprocatory 'bolt having a forward portion containing a cartridge chamber which is open outwardly for passage of a cartridge into and out of the chamber and is open inwardly for passage into the chamber of an outwardly projectable cartridge ejector, a manual operating handle connected with the bolt to effect its reciprocation between a forwardly projected position and a rearwardly retracted position, a housing enclosing said bolt with a cartridge passing opening therein located for alignment with the outwardly open cartridge chamber in the bolt retracted position, an outwardly biased ejector arm pivotally mounted by the housing for projection of a cartridge engageable abutment thereon outwardly through the inwardly open cartridge chamber in the bolt retracted position, a cam carried by the bolt and engageable with said ejector arm to depress the same on the forward stroke of the bolt toward its projected position, a releasable latch shiftably mounted in the housing, a spring acting to bias the latch into latching engagement with the depressed ejector arm and a latch releasing element arranged for movement with the bolt and operating handle and to transmit a final increment of bolt retracting movement to said latch against its biasing spring and thereby release the latch from ejector arm engagement.

9. The structure of claim 8 wherein said releasable latch is mounted on a pivot axis and has a limited swing angle range, at one limit of which the latch is in its effective latching position and at the other limit of which the latch is in an ineffective position and wherein the latch biasing spring bears on a portion of the latch located in overcenter relation in both latch positions, together with a manually operable latch positioning selector connected with the latch for swinging the same from either side of the center of its swing angle range.

Swebilius Feb. 12, 1929 Walker Feb. 12, 1952 r in u w i 

